Contrative analysis of primary sentences in english and those in vietnamese

Luận văn, khóa luận, đề tài

I would also like to give my heartfelt thanks to all the teachers of the ForeignLanguages Department, my good friends for their documents and advice, especially,to my family who supported me with love and encouragement.

Vinh, April 2004

NguyÔn ThÞ H¬ng Giang

1 Reasons for choosing the subject

"Language is the most important communicative device of humanbeings"(quoted by NguyÔn Nh· B¶n, 2002: 150) Through languages, people

establish and control multi - sided interactions among them Of many units of thelanguage system, sentences are extremely important ones They are probably themost familiar of all grammatical terms In the process of communication, peopleuse many kinds of sentences with various purposes such as exchanginginformation, asking someone to do something Among them there are imperativesentences Their existence adds to the colour of human life It can not be deniedthat imperative sentences are largely used in daily conversations However,imperative sentences and using them in interactions are different in languages,

involving English and Vietnamese For example, in English, when you would likesomeone to close the door, you can use the sentence:

- Close the door, please (1)

In Vietnamese, we say:

- Anh đóng giùm em cánh cửa với! (2)

We can see that one of the differences of the two imperative sentences is thatthe English sentence has no subject meanwhile the Vietnamese one has a subject

"anh" Some questions may appear in your mind: what does "please" mean inEnglish imperative sentences? How do emotional particles, "với", for instance,affect Vietnamese primary imperative sentences? Studying the similarities and thedifferences of imperative sentences in English and Vietnamese helps us a lot tounderstand more their characteristics in teaching foreign languages, and moreimportantly, it helps us to use imperative utterances reasonably in the process ofinteraction.

In addition, the appearance of communicative approach and functionalgrammar has a great influence on our view about languages, including sentencesand imperative sentences Furthermore, we find it interesting and necessary tostudy the differences and similarities of the imperative sentences in English andthose in Vietnamese in terms of functional grammar.

For the reasons above, we decided to choose the subject: Contrastiveanalysis of primary imperative sentences in English and those in Vietnamese.

2 Aims of the study

The aims of this study are:

 To improve the language users’ ability of using primaryimperatives in English and that in Vietnamese;

 To present a brief overview on primary imperative sentences inEnglish and that in Vietnamese;

 To show some similar and different features of the structure ofEnglish and Vietnamese primary imperative sentences;

 To investigate some sub-functions of primary imperativesentences in English and those in Vietnamese;

 To help language learners or users to know degrees of necessityof primary imperative acts in English and those in Vietnamese;

 To help language users to understand some factors that havegreat influences on the force of primary imperative sentences;

 To show the scope of using primary imperative sentences inEnglish and that in Vietnamese;

 To suggest some practical applications about primaryimperative sentences in English and those in Vietnamese.

3 Scope of the study

This thesis is about contrastive analysis of the primary imperative sentences,one of the three kinds of imperative sentences In this thesis, the theory used foranalyzing and contrasting is mainly based on the theory of functional grammar.Also, in this thesis, we only concentrate on contrasting and analyzing somenoticeable features of the structure of primary imperatives, degrees of thenecessity of imperative acts, some factors affecting the force of primaryimperatives, scope of using primary imperative in English and those inVietnamese.

4 Methods of the study

- Descriptive method- Analytic method

- Comparative and contrastive method- Collecting method

- Statistical method- Systematic method- Experimental method- Synthetic method

5 Design of the study

The thesis is composed of three main parts: introduction, investigation andconclusion.

Part A consists of five terms: reasons for choosing the subject, aims, scope,

methods, designs of the study.

Part B is subdivided into three chapters:

In chapter I, we state a general view on theoretical preliminaries.

In chapter II, we focus on contrastive analysis of primary imperative sentencesin English and those in Vietnamese.

In chapter III, we give out some remarks when using primary imperativesentences and translating them from English into Vietnamese and vice versa.Besides, we suggest some exercises and activities that may help language learnersor users in learning and using primary imperative sentences in English andVietnamese.

Part C is the conclusion of the thesis.

Chapter 1

Theoretical preliminaries

1 1 An overview on sentences

1 1 1 Different opinions about the definition of the sentences

We are introduced to sentences in our early school years and they quicklybecome a part of our linguistic awareness We speak in sentences, we are taught towrite in them, making sure that they are put in all the periods of time It mighttherefore be thought that sentences are easy things to identify and define Theopposite turns out to be the case Because of the fact that, about the definition ofsentences, so far, there have been a lot of definitions with various opinions Forexample, Alexandria grammatical school (300-200 B.C) said that sentence is acombination of words which expresses a complete thought * According to

Vinogradov, a Russian grammar professor, "a sentence is a complete unit of theutterance grammatically constituted with rules of a certain language, being themost important device to denote and to convey thoughts In sentences, there existsnot only the description of reality but also the relationship between the speaker andthe reality" ** Vietnamese grammarians have been trying their best to give outexact and full definitions of sentences For instance, NguyÔn L©n wrote that:" Manywords combined to show a clear sense about actions, states or characteristics ofthings are called a sentence” *** Another author, §ç ThÞ Kim Liªn [1998: 101]defines a sentence as follows: “a sentence is a unit of words which is set up in theprocess of thinking, relating to a particular and certain context so as to informsomething or express an attitude A sentence has an independent grammar structureand ending- intonation “, etc (*, ** and *** are quoted by §ç ThÞ Kim Liªn, 1998:

In summary, different schools have their own definitions about sentences.Many linguists have recently tried to elicit the good and the radical points frommany different ideas to present the most reasonable one In fact, no definition about

sentences has been perfect so far The word "sentence" is actually somewhat

problematic However, all opinions presented above are thought to be examples toshow that the definition of the sentence has been noticed for a long time.

1 1 2 Main characteristics of the sentences

From what we have already mentioned and as far as we know, at present, inlinguistics, there has not been a standard and complete definition about sentences.On the ground of many opinions about sentences of various authors, we would liketo present some outstanding and main characteristics about sentences affecting ourgraduation thesis:

a Sentences are determined by semantic grammatical relations, these relationsdetermine the functions of abstract units in a sentence as well as kinds of sentencesin terms of meaning.

b Sentences exist and operate in a system of language under different formsand variants.

c Sentences perform specific functions (according to certain purposes ofinformation).

d Sentences have ending intonation.

1 1 3 Kinds of sentences

Illocutionary forces or functions are superficially indicated by a number ofdevices It is claimed that grammatical sentence types literally indicate functions.In English, there are four main types of sentences: declaratives, interrogatives,imperatives and exclamatives Each has a typical form, which helps us to recognizeit For example:

- She is a brave girl (Declarative)- Is she a brave girl? (Interrogative)- Be brave! (Imperative) - How brave she is! (Exclamation)

There are four main sentence types:

Sentences

Declaratives Interrogatives Imperatives Exclamatives

1 2 Sentences, utterances, speech acts and their relations

1 2 1 Relation between sentences and utterances

A sentence is the object of grammar, the largest abstract unit of syntax.

According to Doctor §ç ThÞ Kim Liªn, “an utterance is a unit of speech It isseparated from succession of speech to communicate or from texts to expressdirect words of characters in conversations” [1999: 82] As for J C Richards,“what is said by any one person before or after another person begins to speak isan utterance” [1993: 395] It is obvious that, there has not been common

understanding about sentences and utterances Sentences are considered the unitsconstructing the language system Meanwhile, utterances are the units constructingspeech Sentences and utterances have close relations In Vietnamese grammar, the

author Hoµng Träng PhiÕn says, “Sentences are abstract things and utterances areconcrete things Sentences are unchangeable but utterances are changeable.Utterances function is to realize the syntactical model of sentences, they are also’

the existential means of these models” [1980: 13] Particularly, “utterances aresentences which are filled with specific lexical units, they may be used in differentcontexts with different goals” [§ç H÷u Ch©u, 2001: 31] In other words, utterancesare existential means of sentences In this thesis, the sentences used to analyze are

equivalent to utterances

1 2 2 Relation between utterances and speech acts

In daily life, people might be able to produce a number of sentences usinggrammatical structures and these sentences might reflect a set of functions Theserelate to speech acts So, what are speech acts? In Pragmatic, George Yule

proposed that “ in attempting to express themselves, people do not only produceutterances containing grammatical structures and words, they perform actions viathose utterances… Actions performed via utterances are generally called speech Actions performed via utterances are generally called speechacts” [1996: 47].

For example, you can say, “Will you close the door, please!” “Could youclose the door, please! ” or Close the door, please!“ ” to express a request, if theaddressees do that action, it means that they have already performed the speech actof request In other words, speech acts are generally actions performed via

utterances By producing utterances, we have speech acts In short, utterances areexpressions of speech acts.

1 3 John R Searle and speech act theory

Searle showed that it is possible to classify utterances into a very small set offunctions Depending on four main criteria: illocutionary points, direction of fit,psychological states and propositional content, Searle listed a system of five

categories of speech acts or utterances’ functions These include directives,

commissives, representatives, declaratives and expressives [1976: 10].

+ Directives: Directives are speech acts that speakers use to get someone else

to do something They express what speakers want These kinds of acts are orders,commands, demands, requests, begs, suggestions, pleads, advice, invitation For

+ Commissives: Commissives are speech acts that speakers use to commit

themselves to some future action They express what speakers intend They are

promises, threats, refusals For example:

- I will not be late for work any more (1) - We didn t tell her that story’ (2)

The function of the first utterance is promising, the function of the second oneis refusing.

+ Representatives: Representatives are speech acts that state what speakers

believe In other words, they describe states or events in the world, such as

assertions, conclusions, reports… Actions performed via utterances are generally called speech For example: - The earth moves around the sun (Assertion) - It was a warm sunny day (Description)

+ Declaratives: Declaratives are speech acts that change the state of affairs in

the world They are declarations, announcement, appointment, nomination, etc.For example, when the chairman says: “I declare the meeting open”, a changing

really takes place, people start to make speeches or address the meeting and so on.

+ Expressives: Expressives are speech acts in which the speaker expresses

psychological states, feelings or attitudes about a given state of affairs They are

expressions of joy, compliment, apologizing, complaints, pleasure, sorrow… For Forexample:

- I m terribly sorry’ ! (Sharing sorrow)

- How intelligent you are! (Compliment)

1 4 Form and function of the sentence

Traditionally, there is one – to – one match between form and function ofthe sentence The function of each type of sentences has been associated with aparticular illocutionary force For example, the function of a declarative is to makea statement, the function of an interrogative is to ask a question, that of animperative is to give a command and that the function of an exclamation is toexclaim For example:

a What a nice hat! (Exclamative – exclamation)b You wear a hat (Declarative – statement)c Do you wear a hat? (Interrogative – question)d Wear a hat (Imperative – command)

Each of these is true, sometimes, but each of the four sentence types can servedifferent jobs, can fulfill more than one function Therefore, one particular sentenceform is not tied to one meaning On the view of discourse analysis, it would beunlikely that, on any occasion, a natural language utterance or sentence would beused to fulfill only one function It means that different structures can be used toaccomplish the same function and vice versa, a certain structure may be used toexpress various functions In other words, there seems no one - to – one relationbetween grammatical forms and communicative functions For example:

a Where are you from? (Interrogative – question)

b Could you give me that book? (Interrogative – request) c Why don t we go out for a walk’ ? (Interrogative – suggestion)The three sentences have the same form of interrogatives The first one has theform of an interrogative and its function is a question, but the function of thesecond one is a request and that of the third one is a suggestion.

1 5 Modality of the sentence

Modality is much associated with the meaning of sentences According to §ç

ThÞ Kim Liªn, “a sentence consists of two parts: one part indicates descriptivemeaning, which is usually created by lexical meaning; the other part expresses thespeaker s attitude or evaluation toward the reality mentioned This part involves’

modality ” [1999: 52] It is expressed by many modal factors such as interjections,modal verbs, intonation… For For example, to show fears we can say:

- Oh, how horrible! (Interjection)

With an event, the speaker can express different attitudes through emotionalwords (interjections) such as:

- MÑ vÒ råi ?- A! mÑ vÒ råi! - MÑ vÒ ®i!

In the first example, “” indicates surprise, in the second one, “a!” expressesdelight and with the word ®i“ , the third one shows an emotional state that thedaughter or the son hurries his or her mother to come back home.

CHAPTER 2

CONTRASTIVE ANALYLSIS Of primary IMPERATIVE SENTENCESIn ENGLISH AND those in VIETNAMese

2 1 An Overview on imperative sentences

2 1 1 Different opinions about imperative sentences

Imperative sentences play an important role in communication So far, lots ofauthors have put forward their opinions about the definition of the imperative

sentences According to Lê Huy Trờng in “A grammar of the English language”, animperative sentence is “a sentence whose purpose is to induce the personaddressed to fulfill a certain action They may be done in the form of a command,order, or request” [1999: 169] As for Diệp Quang Ban, imperative sentences are

used to ask or order the hearer to do what the speaker wants They have certainsigns of form [1998: 235] David Crystal defined that imperative sentences instructsomeone to do something [1995: 219] On the view of pragmatics, imperative

sentences are considered in terms of speech acts Searle analyzed, “They areattempts of the speaker to get the hearer to do something They may be very modestattempts as when I invite you to do or suggest you do it or they may be very

2 1 2 Definition of the imperative sentences

From many opinions above, imperative sentences are sentences whosefunction is to evoke the hearer s reaction so that he or she can reply to the speaker’

with actions that the speaker wants In other words, the speaker may force the

hearer to complete an action as an order but he or she may expect the hearer’swillingness, kindness when he or she accomplishes that action For example, when

the speaker orders the hearer to carry out an action, he can say like that, “Stop!” inEnglish, “Dừng lại!” in Vietnamese However, when the speaker wants to requestthe hearer to do something, he can use imperative sentences like that “Close thedoor please! ” or “Cậu đóng giùm tớ cái cửa với” in Vietnamese.

2 1 3 Kinds of imperative sentences

Imperatives are rather various because of the fact that there are many ways offorming imperative utterances On the basic of the purposes of use andcommunication, we have different kinds of imperatives In this limited study, wetemporarily divide imperative sentences into three types in terms of forms They

are performatives, primary imperatives and indirect imperatives They can be

2 1 3 1 Perfomative imperative sentences

Performative imperative sentences are sentences which contain performative

verbs of imperatives such as “demand , recommend , request , order , ask ,” “ ” “ ” “ ” “ ”

command , invite , advise

“ ” “ ” “ ” in the present tense in English or the verbs yêu“

cầu , đề nghị , mời , ra lệnh , hạ lệnh , bảo , khuyên ” “ ” “ ” ” “ ” “ ” “ ” in Vietnamese In

these sentences, “there are indirect objects in second person ( you ), the subjects“ ”

must be first person singular, indicating that the utterances count as actions by“ ”

being uttered” [George Yule, 1996: 51] For example:

are performing equivalent actions For example, by uttering the sentence I warn“

you not to cross the moors at night , ” the speaker is performing the act of warning.He demonstrated that people not only use languages to make statements orquestions about the world, but they also use them to perform actions that affect orchange the world in some way.

2 1 3 2 Indirect imperative sentences

As presented, there is rarely one – to – one match between forms andfunctions of the sentences Thus, imperative sentences can be taken into account.For example:

In English:

- Rob, could you poor the wine, please?

[Hartley and Peter, 1994: 140]

- Why do not you close the windows?

In Vietnamese:

- Anh Tuấn chắc chơi ghi ta khá lắm?

(It implies “Anh đánh cho chúng em nghe đi”)

[Lu Quang Vũ, 1994: 66]

- Sao cËu l¹i tù tiÖn bãc th cña b¸c Êy?

(It implies “§õng bãc th cña b¸c Êy”)

[L¬ng S¬n, 1989: 37]

The special thing here is that all examples shown above have the form ofinterrogatives but are not really used to give questions (i.e, we do not expect onlyanswers, we expect actions) In these cases, these sentences are normallyunderstood as requests The speaker uses yes – no question forms and wh –question forms to get someone to do something Thus, to understand meanings orfunctions of the indirect imperatives, both speakers and hearers need to think overthe utterances That means we have to consider specific contents about meanings,contexts, relations, etc There is a great dimension that the British would prefer touse interrogative forms to make requests or offers rather than to use imperativeforms because they think that with interrogative forms, request or offers can bemore polite than that with imperative forms.

2 1 3 3 Primary imperative sentences

Unlike performative imperative sentences, primary imperative sentences do

not contain any performative verbs such as “command , request , beg” “ ” “ ” in

English or “ra lÖnh , thØnh cÇu , van xin” “ ” “ ” in Vietnamese These have particularforms and the functions of direct acts For example:

(4) - Qu©n bay ®©u, mau mang tªn ¨n mµy nµy ra trÞ téi (command)

[Hoµng Nguyªn C¸t, 1993: 118]

Obviously, we can not find any performative verbs of the imperatives in thementioned examples In addition, when we speak out these sentences, it means thatwe have already accomplished imperative acts or imperative functions Forexample, in the first sentence and the fourth one, the speakers carry out acts ofcommanding, the second one and the third one function as requests

In conclusion, there are many ways of expressing imperative acts Each kind of

the imperatives gives us deep interest However, in this graduation thesis, we paymuch attention to contrastive analysis of the primary imperative sentences inEnglish and those in Vietnamese

2 2 Acknowledgement of primary imperative sentences inEnglish and those in Vietnamese

2 2 1 Primary imperative sentences in English

2 2 1 1 Form and use

* Primary imperative sentences are constituted with the base form of the verbs, i.e,

the present infinitive without “to” There is no tense distinction in primary

* We negate primary imperatives by using “do” with “not” or “n t’ ”.

- Don t cry’ anymore!

[Bïi ThÞ Hång, 1998: 22]

- Do not be afraid, my dear.

[Bïi ThÞ ViÖt Hång, 1998: 24]

* Emphatic imperatives:

We can make an emphatic primary imperative with “do + infinitive” This is

common in polite requests, complaints and apologizes:

- And now, please do stop crying.

- Try again – You nearly did it.

(1) Primary imperative sentences without subjects

Primary imperatives without subjects are the most common category of all.Examples:

- Look at that car!

As said in the part “form and use”, a primary imperative sentence does not

usually have a subject but it is implied in the meaning of an imperative that the

omitted subject is usually the second pronoun "you" This can be confirmed by the

occurrence of "you" as a subject of the tag question “Give me a hand, will you?” orby the presence of "yourself " and of no other reflexive pronoun as object:

- Behave yourself (not behave himself), etc.

However, we can use a noun or a pronoun to make clear whom we arespeaking to:

- You shut the door!

[Ann Baker, 1992: 105]

- Mary come here!

[Michael Swan, 1995: 254]

A third person subject is also accepted in this case:

- Everybody stand up!

[Ann Baker, 1992: 14]

- Somebody open this window!

[Quirk, 1972: 402]

(3) Imperative sentences with vocatives

While in primary imperative sentences, subjects always precede the verbs,vocatives are elements that can take both front- and end- positions in the sentence.Another point is that the vocatives, when initially placed, have a separate tone - unit(typically, fall - rise), the subject only receives ordinary word - stress.

Vocatives: - JACK, stand over there!

- Stand over there, JACK!Subject: - Jack stand over there.(4) Primary imperative sentences with "let"

The first person imperatives can be formed with the verb "let" followed by a

subject in the object case:

- Let's go outside.

[Collins Cobuild, 1990: 204]

"Let" can also be used with the third person nouns or pronouns:

- Let each man decide for himself.

You open thewindows

someone openthe windows- let me open the

with vocatives - Mary, open the windows. - Open the windows, Mary.

2 2 2 Primary imperative sentences in Vietnamese

In Vietnamese, primary imperative sentences are usually constructed byimperative intonation, by functional words that bring about imperative meanings.Some functional words are:

"hãy", "đừng(có, có mà)", "chớ (có, có mà)”… Actions performed via utterances are generally called speech (initial position) "đi", "thôi", "đi thôi", "nào", "đi nào"… Actions performed via utterances are generally called speech (final position)Examples:

Initial position: - Hai ông là ai? Hãy cho tôi biết đã!

[Hoàng Nguyên Cát, 1993:80]

- Đừng khóc, Antnai ạ - Đuy-sen lau nớc mắt cho tôi.

[Nguyễn Sĩ Cẩn, 1995:112]Final position: - Nào, Miu, ra chơi với chị nào!

[Nguyễn Đình Thi, 74]

- Em uống nớc đi!

[Bích Thuận, 2000: 49]

* Intonation in primary imperatives has various levels with variety of subtle

meanings It is common that imperatives have rising tone at the end of thesentences and the words in which the main contents are strengthened.

In order to reduce the severity and to increase the softness or the force ofutterances, we can place reasonable subjects before the imperatives or suitableaddress terms before or after the imperatives For example:

- Thôi, em đừng tiếc nữa.

2 3 1 Structure of the primary imperative sentences

According to Brown and Levinson (1978) about the structure of primary

imperative sentences, a primary imperative sentence consists of two parts: a head

act and supportive moves (The first part is the main part of an imperative

sentence, the second one has an influence on the first one with aims at increasingor decreasing force of the imperative sentences) Supportive moves function as

devices but they are very important Owing to those devices, the speaker mayreceive a good response to imperative utterances given from the hearer These

factors are address terms, openers, giving reasons, hesitations, etc.

For example:

- Dear sister, let me in!

Supportive move Head act

(Address term)

[Bïi ThÞ ViÖt Hång, 1998: 24]

- Don t drink’ , dear brother, if you drink, you ll change into a wolf then you will eat me.’

(Address term) (Giving reason)

[Bïi ThÞ ViÖt Hång, 1998: 20]

In the first example, the head act is “let me in” and the address term is “dearsister” In the second example, “Don t drink’ ” is the head act, “dear brother” is anaddress term, “if you drink, you ll change into a wolf then you will eat me’ ” isgiving reason.

Like English, in Vietnamese, most of primary imperative sentences also

consist of two parts: head act and supportive moves For example:

1.Duyªn , em cÇm lÊy ®

Supportive move Head act Supportive move

(Address term) (Emotional word)

[BÝch ThuËn, 2000: 65]

2 Th«i, anh vÒ ®i, kÎo chÞ Êy mong, chÞ Êy la m¾ng cho.

(Emotional word) (Emotional word)(Giving reason)

[BÝch ThuËn, 2000: 27]

In the first example, “em cÇm lÊy” is the head act of the imperative, “Duyªn”is an address term and “®i” is a kind of emotional words In the second example,“anh vÒ” is the head act, “th«i” and “®i” are emotional words, “kÎo chÞ Êy mong,chÞ Êy la m¾ng cho” is a part of giving reason.

In short, most of the primary imperative sentences in English and those in

Vietnamese have a two - part structure: head act and supportive moves.

2 3 2 Subject or without subject?

According to Randolph Quirk [1972: 402] and the data we have gathered fromfolk stories, modern stories, English books for communication, primaryimperatives without subjects are the most common category of the primaryimperatives.

From what we see above, it does not mean that they never use subjects Theycan be used to express strong irritation or to emphasize some action For example:

- You come here, Jack and you go over there, Mary.- Jack stand over there and Susan go to the kitchen.

However, in Vietnamese, it turns out to be different It is common knowledgethat people use subjects when using primary imperatives, especially when speakingto a person who has higher social status or is older than they are It means that, in

many cases, the existence of subjects in the primary imperatives is compulsory,otherwise, the hearer may think that what the speaker is saying shows impolitenessand despite The speaker can be said to be the person who does not respect thehearer and is rude to the hearer Subjects can occur in any situations of everydayconversations, in different contexts, their existence does not depend on socialstatus, ages, power, etc They can go with gestures, intonation and pitch to show therelationship between the hearers and the speakers We can see expressions ofimpoliteness when using imperatives without subjects in the following example:

- Mở cổng! Mở cổng!

Có tiếng lụ khụ của bác Toàn - bảo vệ trờng - nói vọng ra - Chờ bác một tí, bác đang gạndở nồi thuốc.

- Nhanh nhanh lên! - Giọng Lan bực bội.

Tôi đang quá ngạc nhiên vì "văn phong khẩu khí" của cô bạn thì Lan lại tiếp tục:

- Nhanh nhanh lên chứ, mất cả thời gian.

Đến lúc này tôi giật tay hỏi Lan:

- Sao Lan lại nói với bác Toàn nh thế, bác ấy đáng tuổi ông chúng ta cơ mà!

[Thiếu niên tiền phong, 1996: 12]

Clearly, in this short text, the girl named Lan does not respect Mr Toàn who ismuch older than her Thus, the requests without subjects that she makes becomeorders Furthermore, the attitude she shows when speaking to Mr Toàn is notacceptable, particularly in the behavioural culture of the Vietnamese The requests

here can be " Bác mở giùm cháu cái cổng" or "Bác bảo vệ ơi, bác mở cổng giùmcháu" As to Vietnamese people, ages and family relations are important factorsthat help to choose reasonable utterances.

2 3 3 Semantic functions of the primary imperative sentences

Imperatives are sentences which instruct someone to do something They aretraditionally called commands but this term is misleading because commanding is

only one of the many uses or semantic functions of the imperative sentences Thereare a large number of semantic functions concerning with this kind of sentences inEnglish and Vietnamese We, however, only mention here some functions of theprimary imperative sentences that English and Vietnamese people usually use indaily life.

Communicative functionsof the primary imperativesentences

English expressionsVietnames expressions

Commandingwarning requestinginstructingsuggestingpleading

inviting or offeringadvising

attracting attention

Sit down!Watch out!

Open the windows,please.

Put a little butter into asaucepan.

Let's walk.Help me!Have a drink!Take an aspirin.

Help yourself to acigarette.

Don't drink, my dear,don't drink!

Do not talk in class.Do forgive me!Let me see!Come on!Look!

Ngồi xuống!Coi chừng!

Cậu mở giùm mình cáicửa sổ.

Cho một ít bơ vào chảo.Chúng ta đi dạo đi.Cứu tôi với!

Uống một chút gì nhé!Cậu nên uống thuốc!Ông cứ tự nhiên hút thuốclá.

Đừng uống, anh yêu quý,đừng uống!

Không đợc nói chuỵêntrong lớp.

Hãy tha thứ cho anh!Hãy để tôi xem đã.Hãy cố lên!

Nhìn kìa.

2 3 4 Degrees of necessity of the imperative acts

Whether the illocutionary force of an imperative act is strong or weak, itdepends on its degree of necessity, from the degree of being compulsory to that ofbeing unnecessary It means that there are actions given that must immediately be

done without any conditions or choices, they can not be refused with "no" for

answers For example, it is a command of a military leader As for some otherimperative acts, they need not be carried out at once, the addressees can graduallyperform or refuse to do those actions So, how are these degrees of necessity of theprimary imperative acts expressed in certain cases in English and Vietnamese?

2 3 4 1 The degree of being compulsory

To confirm the compulsion of an action, we need to rely on the characteristicsof the actions and importantly, the relations between the speakers and the hearers.

The imperative acts are compulsory when they must be done immediately andnearly automatically in any situations The power of the speaker determines theobedience of the hearer, and the speaker believes that the hearer must do what thespeaker wants Especially, these kinds of utterances are popular in military Forexample:

- Các ngơi hãy quẳng xác con báo này cho chó rừng ăn thịt.

Các ch hầu làm theo đúng lời vua bảo.

[Hoàng Nguyên Cát, 1993: 122]

Here, the King is the person who holds the most power in hand, the words thathe speaks out are orders and commands, and his soldiers must follow what hewants, otherwise, they will severely be punished.

In military, the commander can give out orders that the soldiers must obey For example:

that action For example, in the folk story “Aladdin”, because he is at present under

the control of Aladdin, the huge lamp deity must obey what Aladdin says:

- Bring us something to eat!

Suddenly the genie brought a splendid meal, set out in rich dishes of silver.

Policeman - prisoner:

- Thôi! Đi nhanh lên! Mang theo dao quắm đi!

Ba phạm nhân vội cầm dao chạy vào khe, leo qua những mỏm đá, nhảy xuốnglòng sông cạn.

[Lu Quang Vũ, 1989: 88]

2 3 4 2 The degree of being necessary

In case of emergency, the degree of imperative acts may not be compulsorybut necessary In this case, the speaker mainly takes care of the information

addressed to the hearer to avoid bad situations that may occur Because of theurgent state, saving face is not important and the hearer does not feel offended bythe speaker Thus, it may not be said that primary imperative sentences expressimpoliteness or rudeness In this part, we will give some examples to illustrate:

(3) - Come quickly, Fenlcy's garage is on fire.

[Hartley and Viney, 1994: 283]

In Vietnamese:

(4) - Ngồi nép cả vào dới tảng đá kia, kẻo trúng đạn bây giờ

[Lu Quang Vũ, 1989: 190]]

(5) - Đừng đi vội, máy bay nó quay lại thì chết cả nút.

Let us consider examples (1) and (4)

In the first example, after hearing the speaker say "Mind your head", the

addressee should be more careful or he will be hurt In the fourth example, whatthe speaker says is not compulsory to the hearers but if they do not follow thespeaker's guiding, they may be injured or killed.

2 3 4 3 The degree of being unnecessary

When someone asks another one to do something, he or she usually expressespolite attitudes to get the help or the approval from the hearer The speaker does notforce the hearer to perform an action, he expects the hearer's share and enthusiasm.The hearer may reply to the speaker by performing immediately or gradually orrefusing to do that action.

In English:

(1) - Please clean the kitchen shelves.

[Molinsky and Bliss, 1991: 81]

(2) - Please give these keys to Ms Johnson at the front desk.

[Molinsky and Bliss, 1991: 73]

In the sentence "Please give these keys to Ms Johnson at the front desk", the

speaker expects the hearer to carry out an action that is helpful to the speaker It is

in " Chiều nay hay ngày mai, lúc nào tiện, bác vào trong bệnh viện lấy giùm chogói quần áo và mấy thứ lặt vặt ,” the speaker believes that the hearer may help himwith "lấy giùm cho gói quần áo và mấy thứ lặt vặt" However, two speakers are not

sure that the hearers will agree to do these things or not.

Similarly, there are several acts such as inviting, suggesting, advising… For thatthe speaker does not have any intention to compel the hearer to do What he or shesays to the hearer is goodwill and sincerity The hearer may refuse or accept thespeaker's invitation or suggest If the hearer agrees, he or she may immediately orgradually perform those imperative utterances For example:

In English: (1) - Have a drink! - Yes, please

[Crystal, 1995: 204] (2) - Let s go to the beach’

- Sorry, I can t.’

In Vietnamese: (3) - Ăn cho vui, cô Nga!

- Xin phép cụ và anh thôi, em vừa mới ăn.

[Nguyễn Đăng Mạnh, 2000: 126] (4) - Anh về xơi cơm, em đợi mãi.

- Tốt quá.

[Quoted by Đỗ Thị Kim Liên, 1999:154]

We choose examples (1) and (3) to analyze In the first example and the thirdone, the speakers give out their friendly invitations However, in example (1) thehearer accepts to have a drink, in example (3) the hearer expresses the attitude ofrefusing.

In summary, both in English and Vietnamese, imperative acts are expressed atdifferent levels On the basic of the characteristics of the cases and the relationshipbetween the speaker and the hearer as well as other factors such as contexts, poweretc, we can know the necessity of imperative acts

2 3 5 Supportive moves in English and Vietnamese

There exists a fact we should take into account that languages, in general,English and Vietnamese, in particular, are all able to provide language users with alarge number of grammatical devices which the speaker could choose to increase orreduce the degree of trouble for the hearer This may help the speaker express closeor distant relations, sympathy or coldness toward the hearer For example, by usingillocutionary force changing linguistic elements or supportive moves in theimperative structure, both the English and the Vietnamese are able to showpoliteness or formality Nevertheless, when this structure is used without thesefunctional elements, people may express informality, even impoliteness In

Vietnamese, for instance, the sentence "më cöa ra" and the sentence "më cöa ranµo" all use an imperative form and have an imperative function Nevertheless, the

first sentence does not contain any element that changes illocutionary force but the

second one does with the word "nµo" It is the presence of these elements which

creates imperatives with different forces and aspects The second sentence showsthe gentle and polite attitude of the speaker toward the hearer but this kind ofattitude rarely or never occurs in the first one.

As to English people, to show politeness in the content of asking someone todo something, asking someone to open the windows, for example, the imperativestructure is usually employed with the illocutionary force changing linguistic

element "please".

For example: - Open the windows, please!

or - Please open the windows!

If "please" is omitted, the communicative function can be changed The

utterance may become a command or an impolite request.

Being aware of the important roles of functional factors that affect the force ofthe primary imperative sentences, we choose some common factors to analyze andillustrate.

2 3 5 1 Emotional words or interjections

In order to increase politeness in primary imperative sentences, English people

usually use the emotional word “please”, which is equivalent to “ xin, xin mêi,

mêi, lµm ¬n” in Vietnamese.

- Please help her, sir!

(Ngµi lµm ¬n cøu c« Êy)

- Please take this box to Mr Miller!

(Lµm ¬n ®a c¸i hép nµy cho ngµi Miller)

[Molinsky and Bliss, 1991: 100]

- Please take a seat!

(Xin mêi ngåi)

[Hartley and Viney, 1994: 99]

As well as the Vietnamese, the British, when speaking, do not want to loseothers’ face, and do not want their face to be threatened English people generallyexpect that each person will attempt to respect the face wants of the others In the

three examples, owing to the interjection "please", they are uttered more politely.

In the three examples quoted, the speakers and the hearers take part in interactionsas people whose social relations are different Between them, there are distantrelations It is common knowledge that in English speaking contexts, if you only

say "take a seat", "help her" or “take this box to Mr Miller” without “please” to

persons who do not have any close relation with you, what you say may be